


I loved you most.

by LethalMinx



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-17 17:06:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18102782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LethalMinx/pseuds/LethalMinx
Summary: Noctis grew up having ostentatious birthdays and so as he got older, he never wanted anything grand done for him. Ignis comes bearing a lovely present - a bracelet, but Noctis gets much more than he expected from something so ordinary.





	I loved you most.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAAAAAY!” Prompto sung obnoxiously in Noctis’ face as he handed him a single cupcake.

Noctis chuckled, “Nice chocobo.” The yellow, pudgy chocobo sat proudly on the top of vanilla icing and yellow cake. Noctis set it down in front of him on the diner table.

“Happy birthday man,” Gladio handed him a small and nicely wrapped box. Noctis opened it and grimaced. “A prince has to look princely,” Gladio chuckled as Noctis examined the bottle of hair pomade.

“Happy birthday, Noct,” Ignis handed him a small box, seemingly professionally wrapped. Unlike Gladio’s gift that was definitely wrapped by his younger sister Iris, Ignis seems to be perfect at everything, including gift wrapping. Noctis opened the box and inside was a bracelet – skillfully engraved with wrapping curves, speckled with blue gems.

“Wow Ignis, thank you…” his voice trailed off as he admired the workmanship. He clasped it onto his right wrist and shook it around to find a comfortable position. It was indeed comfortable, and it was indeed beautiful. The blue gems glowed a subdued and warm blue, barely noticeable.

Ignis smiled at the bracelet as Noctis put his arms on the table and carried on conversation like any other afternoon at the Hammerhead Diner.

* * *

 

“Hey Specs!” Noctis called from the other side of the camp and he half-jogged his way over. “Wanna spar for a little bit? These monsters aren’t offering me much of a challenge anymore.” He paused for a second, “Then again… neither do you.”

They both chuckled at the jab. “All right, Noct. I’ll remember that next time you need me to throw a potion at you,” Ignis waited for Noctis to make the first move. That was always Noctis’ tell, that he was too hasty and would jump first without assessing the field. They must have sparred a thousand times or more since they first met as children, but without fail, Ignis had Noctis on his knees before long and had him throwing in the white flag. No matter how many times Ignis would advise Noctis, Noctis never heeded his words. You know what they say about insanity.

Noctis fought with fervor and passion like it wasn’t sparring. Ignis always admired that about Noctis, that he would never hold back. Noctis knew that Ignis could withstand his strength, and Ignis knew that Noctis wasn’t afraid. The sound of metal clashed and clanged against each other, the scraping of hands along the dirt from bracing a fall, the whoosh of Noct warping to and fro, and the air-slicing shink of his daggers rose like a chorus from their sparring field. They both conceded this time round, panting with hands on their hips and drawing in air deeply.

“That was very good, Noct. You fought well today,” Ignis commended him with a glimmer of a smile drawn across the corner of his lips.

“Thanks Iggy,” Noctis said proudly, still breathing deeply through his nose.

“Yes, you might just be ready to take down a goblin after all,” he jested as they made their way back to the tent.

“Hah hah hah… you know Specs, from one friend to another, you’d never make it as a comedian.”

Noctis grabbed his clothes, body soap, and shampoo, and made his way down to the water for a quick rinse. He undid his clothes and set them neatly by the water, carefully removing his bracelet Ignis gave him.

“Hm?” Noctis inspected the bracelet as it glowed a bright cerulean blue whose color pulsed lazily. It held his attention for a moment as he stood, forgetting that he was naked. He snapped back to his senses, set the bracelet back down, and turned to the water for a refreshing dip. The bracelet’s glow slowly started to fade.

* * *

 

Noctis fell back into a chair by the fireside, absolutely famished and drooling over whatever it was Ignis was cooking.

“Is that grilled barramundi that I smell?” Noctis perked up excitedly.

“You’ve always had a nose for food, Noct. It is indeed – just for you on your birthday,” he smiled pleasantly as he handed Noctis a plate.

“Specs, you’re the best, you know that right?” Ignis simply smiled back as he took his own seat across from him.

“Ughhhhhh Iggy, this is amazing! I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of your cooking!” Prompto hastily cut into the meat and shoved it in his mouth happily, all the while making grunts of satisfaction.

“Easy there, big guy, you’re gunna choke. It’s not going anywhere,” Gladio furrowed his brows and rolled his eyes. As if right on cue, Prompto tried to stifle a few coughs.

Noctis examined his wrist again and felt his mind tug and heart pound harder. The bracelet glowed again with all the brilliance he saw when he was bathing. He wanted to ask Ignis about it, that maybe there was magic imbued in the crystals. He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. It didn’t make a difference. The conversation started to die down, Gladio and Prompto turned in for the night, and the cracking of wood surrounded the campfire in its stead. Noctis found himself staring into it, thinking thoughts that he had put off for so long, but for some reason, he couldn’t fight them anymore. In the warped view of the fire that separated him from the man across from him, he felt compelled to lift his gaze to meet his. Ignis caught his eyes for a moment, then quickly averted down to the base of the fire. Noctis’ eyes relaxed on him, the sight warped in the blaze, and in that moment, he never wanted Ignis to hold him so urgently. A painful sear snapped him back to his senses and Noctis sucked in through his teeth from the pain. He looked at his wrist which was beaming brightly, almost white.

“Ignis, there’s something up with this bracelet you gave me,” he furrowed his brow as the pain subsided, but the bracelet retained its bright light. “Do you have any idea what it’s doing? Is there some sort of magic imbued in it?”

“Not that I’m aware of. What happened?” Ignis stood and made his way to his chair to look at it.

“I don’t know, it… it glows blue sometimes. Sometimes brightly, sometimes not so much. But just now it was so bright and then I felt a burn shoot down my hand.

Ignis gently took Noctis’ hand, looking around his wrist for some sort of mark, but found nothing. He looked at the bracelet whose light didn’t subside and felt himself get heavier. He held Noctis’ hand, attention focused on the light. It was Noctis who brought him back.

“Ignis… you okay?” Noctis asked with a slight of concern.

“Yes, I… yes.” Ignis recomposed himself and stood straight.

“That’s another thing that happens… I feel like I’m under some sort of… spell, maybe? Like some sort of compulsion when I look at it. I cant shake it. And then I…” Noctis’ thought trailed off, fighting to tell him what he thought about. All he wanted to do was tell Ignis, but there was absolutely no way he could. He would ruin everything. He wasn’t even entirely sure if the thoughts were even real.

“And then you… what?” Ignis spoke lowly.

“Then I…” Noctis’ gaze was being magnetically pulled to Ignis’ emerald eyes. He slowly stood, hoping to regain some sort of balance but instead found himself turned in the exact opposite direction he had intended to go, turning towards Ignis. They found themselves mere inches apart. Were Ignis’ lips always this lovely?

“Ignis… what do you know about this bracelet?” It was more of a statement than a question.

There was a pause, and then Ignis spoke.

“I didn’t know, Noctis.” He spoke slowly and methodically, ensuring that the words he spoke was what he truly meant to say. “I thought it was a mere whimsical story, that this bracelet was crafted by an old widowed sorceress.”

Noctis narrowed his eyes in skeptical disbelief, “… Uhhhh…”

Ignis breathed in and began the story. “The bracelet immediately caught my attention when I was shopping for your present. Mind you, I had no intention on getting you anything like this. I thought perhaps some new clothes – something a bit more pragmatic. The vendor saw me examining it and explained to me that the bracelet was crafted by a sorceress whose lover was killed in an act of hatred. Her specialty was crafting battle accessories for the Imperial guards, however when her betrothed had passed away, out of her grief was – not hatred, but love. She imbued the bracelet with the love she felt for her beloved.”

“So… the power of love, then?” Noctis scoffed and tilted his head. Ignis pursed his lips and met his tilt, then went back to his story.

“Yes, the _‘power of love.’_ It was said that whoever wore the bracelet would have amplified feelings of attraction towards their soulmate. It wasn’t necessarily some bewitching accessory, but more to the effect of intensifying what was already there. The bracelet would shine brighter the more those feelings were realized by the wearer, and even moreso when the person they felt the attraction for was in close proximity. Mind you, I didn’t believe the story, but just on the story alone, I thought that it was worth the purchase. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do with it, truthfully. I thought maybe it would just be a conversation piece, or perhaps I would wear it myself. It would go very nicely with some of my outfits. I continued to peruse the market and found that I wasn’t even paying attention to anything I was looking at. My mind was fixated on giving the bracelet to you, and so…” he trailed off and gestured towards Noctis’ wrist.

“That’s strangely sentimental of you, Specs,” he examined the bracelet once again, objectively looking at its soothing light. “There might be some truth to this thing after all.”

“What do you mean?” Ignis studied him, watching as Noctis’ eyes reflected the light in his own.

“I don’t need a bracelet with some magic to make me more attracted to you, Iggy.” Noctis lifted his eyes to his. “That’s really why you bought this, isn’t it?”

There was a tense silence that filled the inches between them for what felt like years. Ignis’ mind raced with how to respond. “Noct, I –“

“It’s okay, but I need to know. Is that it? That you really did want there to be some truth in that story? That maybe it would work?”

“… We’ve grown up together. We did everything together. We experienced so much of life; shared in victories, cried during distress, grew stronger in battle, felt weaker in defeat. And the more I shared in these things with you, the more I…” Ignis paused with nervousness, then exhaled to recompose himself, “… that I loved you.”

Noctis watched Ignis clench his jaw with some slight embarrassment and felt the blood rush to his face with the same. “I loved you the most, Ignis. I always looked up to you and I still do. You push me to be my best every single day and I wake up with the strength that you’ve instilled in me. I think I always knew how you felt but was too afraid to ever say anything. I mean… it could have ruined everything. Ruined my friendship with you… I could never bear to lose you, and if that meant I could never tell you, then that would have to be fine.”

“And I was convinced that I would die with the love I felt for you in my heart, Noct.”

Noctis smiled and drew him in for a kiss, the campfire burning as magnificently as his love that he was now able to profess.

“Well, you don’t have to feel that way anymore,” Noctis smiled warmly and drew him in for another kiss that would mark the start of a new beginning for them both.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work for the IgNoct Gift Exchange :D :D :D My very first one! Yay! 
> 
> _To Arounagen_art, I hope you enjoy this sweet treat <3 ___


End file.
